Why are Good Sprinters Pigeon Toed or have Straight Feet?

For a non-pigeon toed sprinter, the best example of the worse case scenario would have to go to Ato Bolden (see the head-on slow-motion video below with Donovan Bailey and Bruny Surin from the 1995 World Championships archives)

One of the reasons why Ato runs that way is from his early days playing soccer (football). But that didn’t stop him from running world class times. You run the way you run. You are born with certain physical traits from your Mother and Father (and perhaps God, but I’ll leave out religious views here)

The logic for having straight feet or being pigeon toed is is easy, but there’s no real scientific proof for this phenomenon. I do have my theories, though.

First, you can gain (or lose) up to a centimeter (say half an inch) per every stride. Imagine if you can add half an inch for every stride multiplied by 46 strides in a 100 meters, and that’s 23 inches, or nearly 2 feet! (or 60 cm) That can be the difference between 1st and 4th.

Second, there are just a lot of pigeon toed sprinters or sprinters with straight feet out there! Success duplicates success. Ato is an exception to the rule.

Third, biomechanics have shown you land on the outside of your foot and then roll toward the inside in the recovery cycle. By being pigeon toed, you have less of this roll. Less roll could also mean a stiffer ankle, and last time I checked, sprinters all want stiff track spikes for greater force production during ground contact. Stiffer feet means energy is transferred and not absorbed. Memories of my high school physics with billiard balls comes to mind. However, pigeon-toed people are often bow-legged which may lead to other injuries and may explain the short “life-span” of elite sprinters.

And that is why we do endless drills. Focus on proper mechanics (such as watching out for dorsiflexion, for example) and keep the toes and feet straight. Check for limited range of motion as it could be a soft tissue injury, or an injury waiting to happen.

Jimson Lee

I am a Masters Athlete and Coach currently based in London UK. My other projects include the Bud Winter Foundation, writer for the IAAF New Studies in Athletics Journal (NSA) and a member of the Track & Field Writers of America.

Related

I understand why dorsiflexion is important, but what are the negatives of doing the opposite, plantar flexion? How can I make sure I am still running on my toes but that I am dorsiflexed and not plantar flexed?

Good points cov-god!
The season is building and will soon be at an end. This means i’ll be analysing the season of my sprinters and working out what worked well or not so well. I am considering employing the following ideas into next years regimine and would like your thoughts to perhaps save me a year of trial and error……

Many coaches such as kelly baggett, marc magniacotti, eric cressey incoorporate the above weight exercises, but Vern gambetta (who i think is smart as hell) believes gluteham raises are as bad as hamstring curl machines and will only lead to hamstring pulls.

I am not a fan of majorly complex sessions and will tend to stick with major muscle group activities

If you get chance to get the book ‘bigger faster stronger’ by Greg sheperd it’s got some periodisation that we tend to follow during our winter prep phase. Once abase is in place, we switch to max strength on a 3-1 (3weeks-1week) rotation. Working heavily around squat/box squat and deadlifts

I personally prefer using the ghr and variations only in the unload week, but we do add eccentric ham curls once a fortnight throughout the winter and stop a month before any racing commences

As for 400m again I believe in building a foundation that runs throughout, I believe a better vo2 is beneficial for 4 runners

we use 3weeks hard / 1week easy throughout the year. It helps the athletes plan ahead for life outside of Track, especially the student athletes. Luckily, US Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays fall in a 3/1 schedule, so that helps.

I have added gluteham raises to my program and i have seen many of my athletes issues go away. I dont see them as bad as leg curls but i think every lift has its place. I worked with some baseball players and sprinters and I watched them all become better at accelrating this year and watched there times drop in their races and play on the field from using gluteham raises. I became a better starting out of blocks because of them but thats my theory. I know Mike Young or Dennis Shaver or Vince Anderson but I think all lifts have their time and place.

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Online since 2002, with the addition of the Blog in 2007, SpeedEndurance.com is the book I never wrote with 2000+ articles.
I am a former 200m/400m sprinter, a Masters Athlete and Coach, who has lived in Canada, US, Italy, and now resides in London UK. My other projects include the Bud Winter Foundation, writer for the IAAF New Studies in Athletics Journal (NSA), and a member of the Track & Field Writers of America.

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